1. I’m starting this list on Monday since I’m probably going to be home for most of the week anyway. I still have a cold (not allergies.) It’s getting better now that I armed myself with more Lemsip, blackcurrant menthol drops, Octrivine, and saline sinus wash. Saturday I was blowing my nose constantly, yesterday I woke up coughing, and today I’m in the almost okay but not quite stage. My head’s too foggy to enjoy myself if I did go outside and, besides, I doubt people want me ill at the gym and the cafe. (Though I’m pretty sure I got this blasted cold from the blasted public.)

2. I’ve set up my Theory Test for the first week in September so after I pass the computerized part of the test, I can be put on the waiting list to do the Practical Test (the actual driving part.) My instructor said the waiting list is about 6-8 weeks so that will give me the last run-down of super test preparations. Ugh. I can’t even imagine. Well, no, I guess I can, I just don’t drive confidently. Of course, in the U.S. I’ve driven for almost 20 years. The roads are wide, flat, and without a ton of parked cars on either side. Here, I’m second guessing myself constantly.

3. On Saturday we saw The Dark Knight Rises. I knew there was some chat on Twitter where most people said it was great but some said, “Well, the voice of Bane isn’t great.” And, they were right. All in all, the film was really good and I really liked Anne Hathaway as Catwoman even though I didn’t want to at first. (I get tired of seeing the same people in every movie.) I agree with the critics saying that they didn’t over-sexualize Catwoman and it was more about her character. (Plus, those goggles are amazing.) Bane’s voice was just laughable. When I first heard him talk, I was reminded of Morla, the turtle in The Neverending Story. But because I don’t pay any attention, I didn’t even realize that Bane was Tom Hardy until the end. (I knew I should recognize him but couldn’t place him.) Now, in Wuthering Heights, Tom Hardy played a freaky Heathcliff with a great accent, so it isn’t a surprise that he would have done a good job. However, apparently, the filmakers didn’t think you could understand Bane well enough, so they redubbed his voice for the final cut of the film.

5. It’s a good thing I stayed home sick on Monday morning. There was a job that I was interested in, but the application wasn’t available online. I had totally forgotten that I’d emailed the HR department for the application and when I checked my email at 9:30, they had sent me the application along with a reminder that applications closed by 10AM that same day. I hurried and did the best I could with the cutting and pasting and rejigging the tables that get all messed up in Microsoft Word once you start filling in forms. I sent it off at 9:59AM, even accidentally missing a “yes or no” questions about willingness to get a CRB check done (though since I’m already a registered teacher, I’m sure they can figure out that I already have one.)

6. Today I felt well enough to go to the gym, then decided to hang around town for a while. Since I’m so stuffy, I hit Nando’s the minute they opened and asked for the hot sauce on my chicken. It was way too may calories for the day (since I also had hot dogs at home for dinner) but man, was it worth it. Sadly, I couldn’t stay to watch the cheap Tuesday movies at the theatre upstairs from Nando’s because my stupid HTC Sensation phone battery died.

7. That stupid phone. I can’t find any kind of battery saver option on it and I try to keep the task manager empty of apps running in the background but it just does not help. With that and the screen going dark when I take a photo (again, no option I can find or anything on Google regarding the issue) it’s a pretty crappy phone. Plus it randomly won’t let me send texts from time to time. I hate to say it, but I don’t think I had *that* many problems with the iPhone (or I had different issues with it.) I think I’m going to get a Samsung Galaxy 3S (or whatever new one they have by then) next year.